It all started when Klein was only 30, and working for candy
distributor Garvey Nut in Temple City, Calif. He conceptualized
the idea for a new kind of jellybean, and asked Bay Area
manufacturer Herman Goelitz Candy Co. to create recipes and ship
them. Klein decided on the name Jelly Belly after being inspired
by the musician Lead Belly.

He sold the candy at a Fosselman's Ice Cream store in a suburb of
Los Angeles, and got lucky after the Associated Press ran a piece
on the new Jelly Belly. Soon Klein was on talk shows and posing
for People magazine.

But in 1980, Goelitz executives asked Klein and a Garvey Nut
partner to relinquish the Jelly Belly trademark in exchange for
$10,000 each every month for 20 years. He says it was one of the
worst decisions he's ever made.

The deal never made him rich, and today lives a modest life
giving tours in a local candy factory. Goelitz changed its name
to Jelly Belly Candy Co. and currently brings in around $193
million.

Though Jelly Belly Co. says that's not the whole story. The
company followed up with us today:

"In fact, when our executives made an
attempt to purchase the trademark, Klein finally admitted, after
many statements to the contrary, that he did not in fact own the
rights to the Jelly Belly trademark and that he had allowed two
others to trademark that name. Goelitz purchased the trademark
from Garvey Nut and from Fosselman for the California rights.
Goelitz made an offer for $20,000 a month for 20 years, and it
was accepted and paid to Garvey Nut."

Klein responded that his Garvey Nut
partner owned the federal trademark with the understanding they
would soon be equal partners, and Fosselman had purchased the
California rights without Klein's knowledge.

"Our trademark attorney told us not to apply for the
California trademark and we listened to him," he tells us.

With that now years behind him, Klein is aiming to make a second
name for himself through gourmet chocolate, which he'll call
"David's Signature Beyond Gourmet Jelly Beans."